Bookmark



Patented July 15, 194-1 UNITE.

BOOKMARK Arthur G. Smith, Elyria, Ohio Application May 5, 1939, Serial No. 271,905

1 Claim.

This invention relates to book marks and more particularly to a reference and citation indicator for use in connection with correlated matter that is studied in a plurality of books, such as when used in the joint study of the Christian Bible with Mary Baker Eddys Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and other similar publications.

In the past a variety of reference indicating book marking devices have appeared on the market. In biblical reference work and study the more generally used of these marks has certain objectionable characteristics that the present mark is designed to overcome specifically, in addition to the merits and advantages possessed by the present mark inits own right.

Some of the objects of the present invention that make the present marker specifically superior to the most generally used of the prior markers, are: the absence of a tendency to disconnect itself from its securing means too readily; the absence of sharp points, cutting edges and the like that injure or destroy the book leaves, particularly when the marker is used with books that contain the finer grades of very thin paper, such as rice paper used in bibles, and the like; weak mechanical design and structure wherein the parts break and separate in use with a resultant lack of dependability and objectionable and avoidable waste and nuisance; and other objectionable characteristics that become discouraging to the users of the mark and cause avoidable loss and dissatisfaction.

Other of the objects of the present invention are to provide a marker that is guided into its engagement with its retaining means by the structure of the marker itself as well as by its manipulation by the user; that interposes apositive acting shoulder against the accidental separation of the marker from its retaining means; and that is so constructed and designed that it may be repeatedly connected and disconnected to its securing means without breaking or becoming so misshapen that it fails in its function of accurately indicating a citation, and that as a long and satisfactory life period.

The marker is structurally reinforced at all zones of maximum stress, such as the places Where torsional stresses are transmitted between the members and where it will be bent and twisted in use, so that these zones faithfully withstand usual treatment rthruout the life of the marker and the purchaser obtains a reliable and valuablearticle that serves him dependably. f p

The present marker is preferably rounded at all of its edges and corners so thatrno sharp and cutting edges may contact-the pages or other parts of the books in which it is used and so that no injury maybe caused by its extensive and prolonged use.

With t e above and other objects in view that will be apparent to those who are familiar with this type of device and its uses, suitable i1lus-' trative embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of the marker wherein transversely disposed shoulders oppose the accidental separation of the marker from its'securing means and the junction of theline indicator with the supporting page insert is curved to provide stress distribution;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary end of a page insert that is widened to a desired dimension to strengthen this part of the device and to space the insert frompthe book hinge a desired distance, and that has inclined securing means contacting edges that assist. in guiding the securing means into its aperture in the ends of the arm supporting part of the marker;

Fig. 3 is a perspective of a marker having a seeming means receiving aperture that opens thru the side of the page insert and away from the book hinge, and a rugged, double thickness arm that is folded over on itself at its free end; Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary end of the page insert portion of the marker provided with inclined securing means contacting edges of maximum dimensions for guiding the securing means into its apertures;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a marker having a securing means receiving aperture that opens thru the side of the supporting member toward the book hinge thru a normally closed slit of any desired length and an arm that is of double thickness folded over on itself along one of its longitudinal edges and that has an inclined shoulder spaced from the junction of the 7 arm with the supporting member;

Fig.6 is a fragmentary edge View of the markalong the line 8 -8 of embodiments of the invention a supporting member carries an arm member that is of ample length so that its free end extends beyond the pages of a closed book. Both members are preferably flexible and of thin section, such as light sheet plastic or the like. A flexible, transparent, non-inflammable cellulose derivative, such as cellulose acetate or the like, has been found to be suitable, or the members may be made of other suitable thin sheet material, such as, for example, thin sheet metal, polymerized resins that are sufiiciently tough, Celluloid, and the like.

The members are preferably of the thinnest section that is consistent with the necessary strength, so that when it is necessary that a substantial number of the markers be positioned among the pages of a book, the book will not be objec'tionably increased in thickness and objectionable strain be placed on the binding, or that the leaves of the book be marked by light longitudinally extending creases due to the angularity with which the marker are pressed against the leaves of the book.

The markers are secured in their respectivepositions between the pages of a bookby any suitable arrangement, as for example, by causing them to be mounted on a cord, dental floss, rubber band, endless elastic, or the like, that extends continuously around all of the leaves or pages of the book, inwardly of both book covers and pressed well back toward the book. hinge. This provides a cord at the top and the bottom of every page of the book an the cord serves as an anchor to which the individual markers may be detachably secured and that is urged toward the hinge of the book by the turning of the pages.

The supporting member I, between the ends of which the arm 2 is mounted, is provided at either end with a suitable cord: engaging means, of which the retaining shoulder 3, that is disposed substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the supporting, member, forms a part, and that releasably engages the'cord 4 that is disposed at the top. and the bottom of the. pages of the book.

Any desired method of access to the retaining shoulder 3 is provided, such asthe open slit 5, that extends longitudinally of the supporting member I. and opensintothe cord housing compartment 6..

The arm 2 is secured to. the supporting member I in any desired position; intermediate the ends thereof. The arm preferably makes. inclined junction with the supporting member for purposes of force distribution and gradually in-' creased area of contact and. toimpart' strength and permanence to this junction.

The reinforcing shoulder 8.is.preferablycurved sufficiently so that the junction between the supporting member and the arm 2 is of ample strength to provide permanence and long life to the junction. The curve that is shown may be of any desired degree of inclination suitable for providing progressive distribution of stresses from one member to the other over an increasingly wide section of material so that the extent of the area of contact provides ample. strength and the probability of fracture, or the undesirable separation of one member from theother, is reduced to a minimum. V i

The arm 2 preferably has straight edges and is of ample length so that a desired index 1 appears beyond the lateral edge of the page and indicates from outside of the closed book the particular page citation on which the desired reference is located. The index I is preferably removably disposed at the end of the arm 2 in any desired manner, as by sliding into a suitable compartment, or the like. The arm may be continuous, with the material of the supporting member or they may be cemented and pressed together securely at their junction and preferably so that their combined thickness does not greatly exceed that of a single sheet of the material.

The construction of the slit 5 and the compartment 6 in the ends of the supporting member l provides an axially opening aperture in the ends of the supporting member that is at all times urged longitudinally toward the cord 4. The closure of the book leaves against the opposite sides of the supporting member maintains the supporting member in its straight and extended position and at its maximum length. The retaining shoulder 3 is adapted to engage the cord 42,. irrespective of how the open slit 5 is disposed in the supporting member ends, so that the engagement between the supporting member and the cord remains intact at all timesv until they are separated forceably by design.

The installation or the removal of the marker is accomplished simply and expedi-ently and with the subjection of the marker to a mini-mum of stresses by flexing the wings of. the retaining shoulders 3 toward positions substantially parallel to the cord 4 and. mounting the marker on or drawing the marker away from the cord.

The cord 4, if extensible, may, if desired, be of suflicient thickness so that it must be stretched slightly before it will slip easily thru the open slot. Where the cord is extensible it is preferably lifted, stretched to reduce its diameter so that it passes thru the slit 5 with a minimum of strain on the marker and then rel-eased to its original thickness to. engage the retaining shoulders 3.

Whether the cord is extensible or not, one end of the marker may be thrust over the cord so that the cord passes thru the slit 5 into the cord compartment 6 and the supporting member may then be flexed. slightly so that its length is re-, duced and so that the slit at the unattached end of the marker may be placed in registration with the cord at the opposite end of the page. On the release and extension of the marker the slit passes beyond the cord which is then disposed within, the apertures in both ends of the marker supporting member. The accidental separation of the marker from any of the retaining means is materially retarded by the shoulder 3 which is disposed substantially normally to the axis of the supporting member I.

The cord engaging head ID of the supporting member in Fig. 2 may be larger, where desired, than the body portion II thereof. This structure provides for increased flexibility in the body portion II and for graduated positioning of the markers with respect to the book hinge, as governed by the width of the head III and the positioning of the cord receiving apertures therein with respect to one or to both of the lateral edges of the head I'll.

As in the previously described construction the cord restraining shoulder I2 is disposed substantially normal to the axis of the supporting member and retards the escape of the cord 4 from its compartment in the supporting member head I0. The inclined sl-it edges I4, that continue into the cord receiving substantially parallel edged slit I5, facilitate the guiding of the cord into the cord compartment. l3 in the head l0. These inclined slit edges l4 may be of any desired angularity with respect to the substantially parallel edges of the slit l5 and all edges are preferably sufficiently curved in section so that they cannot fray orcut the cord or the paper of the book leaves with which they are used. The junction shoulder i6 is preferably curved for imparting maximum strength thereto.

In the construction that is shown in Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawing, the supporting member 20 of the arm 2| has acord compartment 22 disposed at each of its ends. The cord compartment 22 opens away from the book hinge edge of the marker thru a suitable slit 23.

he accidental escape of the cord from its compartment 22 is resisted by suitable means, such as by the transversely inclined cord retaining shoulder 24 that is continous with the supporting member 25. The supporting member 20 preferably extends continuously axially beyond the cord compartment 22 to provide the cord retaining shoulder 24. The cord retaining shoulder 25 is preferably disposed on the side of the supporting member thru which the slit 23 opens and between the slit 23 and the body of the supporting member. The slit 23 may be inclined to the axis of the supporting member 20, as shown, at any desired angle and may be normal thereto if preferred. The ends of the supporting member 28 may be wider than the body portion thereof, as indicated by the offset shouldcrs 25, if desired. 7

Where it is desired that the arm 2| be provided with additional strength, it may be folded over on itself at its free end 26 so that it is of double thickness thruout its length. In this construction one thickness of the arm material is disposed and adhesively or otherwise secured to the surface on each side of the supporting member 23 at the junction 21 of the supporting member and the arm 2i.

If so desired, the contacting surfaces of the arm may be secured together in any desired manner, as by the use of a suitable adhesive in the area between the supporting member 20 and the index line 23. The index compartment 29 between the slightly spaced overlying surfaces of the arm 2! between the index line 28 and the fold at the free end 26 of the arm, receives and removably retains any suitable index, not shown, that may be removably disposed therein. The arm 2! may or may not, as desired, have a laterally enlarged reinforcing shoulder at its junction with the supporting member 20.

The arm supporting member 3!, that is shown in Fig. 4, terminates at each end in the cord compartment 32. The cord restraining shoulder 33, in the cord compartment 32, is disposed substantially normal to the axis of the supporting member 3i. The inclined slit edges 34 continue to substantially the lateral edges of'the supporting member and engage the marker securing cord 4 and cause it to slide directly into the cord compartment 32. V

The supporting member 36 and the arm 31, that are shown in Fig. 5, are secured together at their junction 38 in any desired manner and present a form of the invention wherein the cord retaining shoulder 39 in the cord compartment is accessible thru a suitable aperture, such as the closed slit 4|, that opens toward the book hinge. The supporting member 33 and the arm 31 are prepared for being secured together by slitting the lateral folded edge 43 of the arm 3? just sufiicientlyto end in a shoulderthat abuts the near edge of the supporting member 36. and so that the joined end of the arm 31 is just flush with the far edge of the supporting member 36.

vA permanent bond between the supporting member 36 and the arm 31 is provided by riveting them together in any desired manner, as by the application of a suitable solvent, cement, or the like, to the surfaces that are to be in contact with each other, and then pressure is applied on 7 the exposed faces of the overlapped parts of the departing from the invention arm 3?, with or without the application of heat, as preferred, until a permanent bond is perfected therebetween. The slit 4| is opened for the passing of the cord into or out of the cord compartment 43 by the flexing of one or both of the wings beside the slit 4|, as is shown in Fig. 6.

The cord compartment 40 may be disposed at any desired distance from the book hinge edge of the supporting member with the corresponding shortening or lengthening of the slit 41 so that, if desired, the body portions of a' plurality-of the supporting members 33 need not necessarily be superimposed on top of each otherbut may lie beside each other in the book.

The ends of the supporting member 33 may, if desired, be wider than the body portion thereof, as where the junction or offset shoulder 42 that is shown, forms a part of the device. The junction shoulder 42 may be disposed on either or both edges of the supporting member 36, as desired for particular advantage.

The arm 3'! may, where desired, be of double thickness, as by being folded along its lateral edge 43, as shown in Fig. 8, for imparting additional strength thereto. In this construction one thickness of the material that comprises the arm 31 may be disposed and adhesively or otherwise secured to each of the opposite surfaces of the supporting member 36 and compressed to a reduced thickness as shown in Fig. 7. The reinforcing shoulder 44 portion of the arm 31. may, if desired, be spaced a desired distance from the supporting member 35. The index 45 is preferably removably disposed in a suitable compartment between the spaced surfaces of the overlying free end portion of the arm 3'! and the remaining contacting surfaces adhesively secured .together, if desired.

fications in the constructions and the uses that are shown and described, may be madewithout as defined in the appended claim.

What I claim is: r

A book page indicating marker adapted for being disposed between adjacent pages in a book, comprising in combination, a substantially long and thin arm member, a lower edge portion of said arm member that is substantially straight supporting members are disposed with respect to each other at substantially a right angle and in substantially a common plane and said arm and" said arm supporting members being secured together against rotation with respect to each other byan edge of said arm member beingsubstantialiy abutted by a part of said arm supporting member, and arm supporting member endportions disposed at opposite ends thereof and individually apertured to provide a cord compartment therein and said cord compartment opening outwardly of said armsupporting member thru a slit that extends in a direction away from the direction in which said arm member extends from said arm supporting member, and said slit edge portions of said arm supporting member end portions: being in substantially releasable engagement with each other when in their normal slit closed positions.

ARTHUR G. SMITH. 

